January, 2022

• 22 January

  The Day After Russia Attacks

  

  What War in Ukraine Would Look Like—and How America Should Respond Despite a flurry of meetings in recent weeks, the United States, NATO, Ukraine, and Russia have not moved any closer to a diplomatic solution or a reduction of tensions on the Ukrainian-Russian border. Although Russia has not completely abandoned …

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• 22 January

  Iran’s Raisi attacks US during speech to Russian parliament

  

  The Iranian president addressed Russian lawmakers on the second day of his visit to Moscow, a “landmark” trip at a critical juncture for the revival of the Iran nuclear deal. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi defended his country’s nuclear activities as legal and renewed strong criticism against the American sanctions regime …

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• 22 January

  Prison housing Iraqi, Syrian IS inmates attacked in Syria

  

  Detention facilities under US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were hit by a major attack attempting to free the thousands within. Mosque loudspeakers urged residents of Hasakah to stay inside in the early morning hours of Jan. 21 after an attempted jailbreak at detention facilities housing thousands of Syrian and Iraqi …

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• 22 January

  Calls across political spectrum to probe Israel Police Pegasus spyware misuse

  

  Knesset members from across the political spectrum are calling for an official probe over publications that police had used the spyware Pegasus to hack phones of citizens without prior court order. Over the last few days, parties on the left and on the right called on the Knesset speaker to …

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• 22 January

  China appoints envoy for Horn of Africa

  

  China’s announcement of an envoy to the troubled Horn of Africa raised questions about the effectiveness of the Chinese role in resolving regional conflicts, especially the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis, which is still a subject of tension and disagreement between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa. China has recently announced …

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• 22 January

  Israel points finger at Iran for Houthi attack on UAE

  

  Israel is worried about the international community’s lack of reaction to the Houthi drone attack on the Emirates, surely orchestrated by Iran. “They are in shock, deep shock. They are not used to being attacked like this,” a senior Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, referring to …

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• 22 January

  EU-MENA relations: Outlook for 2022

  

  Going into 2022, many of the main issues that dominated the European Union’s (EU) relations with the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), from the ongoing talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to the conflicts in …

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• 22 January

  Afghanistan’s economy: Collapse and chaos

  

  On Jan. 13, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm that millions of Afghans are on the “verge of death” thanks to a lethal brew of “freezing temperatures and frozen assets.” This was no idle warning. Notwithstanding the decline in fighting following the Taliban’s victory in August 2021, Afghanistan’s economy is …

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• 22 January

  How involved was Iran in the Houthi attack on the UAE?

  

  Three days have passed since the Houthi attack on the UAE, yet there’s still a lot we don’t know about what really happened. That’s not uncommon. When the Iranians attacked Saudi oil processing facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais in the fall of 2019, it took several weeks to figure out …

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• 22 January

  As the Houthis expand their regional aggression, will the US double down on a failing strategy?

  

  The State Department announced, on Jan. 19, that Tim Lenderking, the U.S. special envoy for Yemen, is departing for a round of consultations in the Gulf and London. He’ll be joining U.N. Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, who has already arrived in the region. According to the announcement, Lenderking is being …

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